The existing bridges are about 116 years old and county officials have said they will have to be shut down if they are not replaced.

The .85-acre parcel of contested portion of land is part of 49.9 total acres owned by W.H.W. Company and is valued at $10,600, said Frank Kane, chief of staff to county Executive Don Cunningham.

Edward Andres, an attorney representing the county, said that property owner has not necessarily voiced opposition to the taking of the land, but has simply been slow to come to an agreement.

The county has been in communication with the property owner for more than one year. Councilman Mike Schware also noted they were invited to attend tonight's meeting to contest the matter if they wanted, but they did not attend.

"In my mind, we've gone to great lengths to give the property owner the right to speak up and voice objections if they had any," Schware said.

In addition to the W.H.W. Company parcel, the county authorized the use of eminent domain for two other pieces of property: one owned by Whitehall Township, and another by Norfolk Southern.

But both of those property owners have agreed with the county's taking of the land, Kane said, and are allowing it to happen through eminent domain for procedural reasons.

The Whitehall Township-owned land amounts to 44,000 square feet. The Norfolk Southern property is an aerial easement from Norfolk Southern, meaning no land would be taken but the bridge would run through the air above the railroad company's property.